Improvement in stop-motions for hair-cloth looms



-UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEO RUFUS J. STAFFORD, OF SMITHFIELD, RHODE ISLAND.

iMPROVEMENT IN STOP`MOTIONS FOR HAIR-CLOTH LOONIS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 19,719, dated March 23, 1859.

To a/ZZ whom 7225 may concern,.-

Be it known that I, RUFUS J. STAFFORD, of

` Smithfield, in the county of Providence and that operates the heddles and the principal shaft inthe loom; No. 3, a lever which operates the clutch; No. 4, a cam on the main t shaft operating a bell-crank; No. 5, a view of the means by which the motion ofthecam may be communicated to the rock-shaft upon* which is the clutch-lever, and No. 6 is a side view of a signal-messenger with its guide-` frame used in m im rovement a front view of the same appearing in No. 5.

The same letters indicate like parts in all the figures.

The nature of my invention consists in providing a means by which the action ofV the several sets of heddles employed shall be stopped before the shed is changed whenever the hair orother material used inthe weft is not drawn between the Warps where such weft was designed to have been placed, while at the same time the beat of the lay is notinterrupted, and also in providing a means by which the saidheddles shall automatically resume their actions the instant that such weft is'properly inserted. l

In that class of power-looms to which my improvementis morepa-rticularly applicable each hair of the filling is by the operator separately supplied to a hook which is connected to the Wag-staff and thereby made to traverse the distance between the threads of warp. The operator holds the hair by one end while the hook trails it through and then the lay beats it u p. In Weaving hair-cloth, for instance, five heddle-frames are employed for thebody of the cloth, besides the two heddle-frames for the selvage, and as these operate in alternate pairs, so as to produce a twilled surface on the cloth, the same shed is opened only at every fifth beat of the lay. Obviously the greatest degree of dexterity is required of the operator of a power-loom to supply to the hook at each beat of the lay the hair for the Iilling, and the most unremitting attention to the work is indispensable to prevent the injury to the appearance of the surface of the cloth by an omission to insert a hair between each shed. With all the skill and care that can be exercised it often happens that the hook fails to seize and trail after it the hair which has been presented to it, in which ease the consequence is that the operator must wait until after the fifth beat of the lay ensuing before the same shed will be opened again, and a mistake in counting the right number of beats and then inserting the hair would be registered upon the surface of the cloth, while the necessity of waiting for A tive beats causes a sleazy streak in the fabric.

In the accompanying drawings, No. l, a

forward and backward motion is communi` cated to the lay-frame by the driving-pulley 'in the ordinary way, and by toothed gears motion is transmitted from the drivingpulley shaft to shaft. B, No. 2, which revolves once to every two revolutions of the pulley. Sha-ft B is connected with the gear which op` erates the sets of heddles by the clutch 7L 7L.

I have represented in the drawings the kind of gear for giving motion to the sets of heddles patented by R. W. Andrews January 1S, 1853, (the several heddles not being represented in the drawings to avoid confusion,) though it is evident that my improvement can be readily applied tolooms provided with other contrivances for working the sets of heddles. "The clutch-coupling 7i his capable of being operated by the application of force tothe arm f, Nos. l and 5, keyed upon the Irock-shaft G, Nos. 2, 3, and 5, the clutch being in connection with the *rockeshaft G. as represented in No. i3, while' a weight or spring located in any convenient place, as at n, No. l, keeps the clutch closed.

On the main shaft B of the loom is keyed a cam D, No. et, of such a form as to give through the bent lever C an alternating m0- tion to the upper end of the bell-crank lever L, No. 5, in a line parallel or nearly so with the axis of the main shaft B, No. 2, at every beat of the lay.

On the same fulcrum-pin with the bellcrank lever L, Nos. l and 5, is placed the yd-le's recommences.

bent lever 1 1. The lower end of lever 1 1 bears against a Wrist-pin in fthe rock-shaft arm f, and its upper end is furnished with av catch-linklvhpivoted on a projectionat'y. The handle of the catch-link projects far enough to be inserted and play easilyv .inv the hand M of the signal-messenger No.6, as represented in No.5.4 The under` sideot' the `catch-link is curved inward,so thatthe lever L in its backward movement (coincidentor t nearly so with the backward beat of the lay) bearing against the curved side of the link raises the catch and with it the signal-mes- I senger u', and sustains both in that'position until `after .the hook has presented itself'for a hair Aand commenced its retreat. If the hair or other filling has been trailedinto the` shed by the hook,the signalm`essenger in -its descent (the lay now beating forward) will by means ot the 'cross-wire Z, No. 6, be arrested by the hair and be supported by it, and con` `sequently the catch of the linkv M will be held the link M Within the arc of vibration ofthe end of lever L, when levers L and 1 1 being thereby connected the motion lot' L "is im-y parted through the rock-shaft G, No. 2, to the' arm b b, No. 3, and the heddlegear disconnected from themain shaft of t-he loom be-` fore the lay has beat up against the cloth or the shed changed. 'lhe beatof thelay is not, however, interrupted, and Whenever the hook trails ini the hair between the threads of the warp the action of the several sets of hed- It should be observed that it is not desirable in this class of looms to have the Whole machine stop, asthat would not only involve the necessity of manual -actionon the part ot' theattendantto put it in motion agaimbut a much greater disadvantage would be the result from the fact that the operator would be obliged to back the loom far enough to throw tage applied to any description ,of loom of this class employing several sets of heddles,

though thelform, position, andv operation of the several parts to effect the resultmay be greatly varied-as, for instance, the sets of heddles may be operated by cams Working treadles, in which case the cam-shaft should be distinct from the main shaft and capable.

of being Connected with it, and the form andarrangement of lthe several parts of my improvement should be adapted tomeet such change. Again, revolving gears connected with the main shaft or other revolvingpart of the loom may be substituted in place of lever L, one of which could be furnished with `pinions in .its face at such `distances as to act upon the disconnecting-lever when` brought in contact with any one of them. Theplan, l' however, which I have exhibited in the draw-y ings I consider the bestand simplest, and

therefore .I have described `it minutely. Il

also contemplate'the application of this prin-` ciple `to hair-cloth looms havinga jacquard attached to control* themovementsV of the sets of heddles for Weaving;figuredfhair-cloth, so that the failure toinserta.` lsin'glehair of the v l t filling `will disconnectby` substantially the same means as those above described the jaci w -quard from the other partsynof theloom, and thereby stop the hejddles andleaveitheright shed open untlthe hair is properly inserted.

I havealso-successfully made lever'l, at the i same time that itwas calledjintoaction to open the clutch, raisethe pawl that usually works the take-up beam clear ofthe ratchet during the forward beat of thellay,an'd thus while the hedidles Werestopped prevent the fcloth from beingy Wound jupon the beam.` It

isalso appa-rent that the mechanical contriv-` ances `or their equivalents by `which the action of the sets of heddles is arrested can also be made to operate upon the leverwhich controls the driv'inglpulleylbland `thus stop the niotionof the loom bef re the jlay has beat up* against the fabric and the shed changed. Y

I wishit to be nude limit myself to the spec rangement of parts as de all merely.y formal variati same mode of opration b l `What I do claim as "i" l. The modeo'f operar specified, bymeansot which;

`the weft of they cloth fail `t in any one or othe disconnectien is, in con tween `the garthat cent"` A several setsl ot' heddlefsand tion before the relative positi l eral sets of heddles to eac` otherareshifted and a new shed opened, i l le'tliother parts of the loom"` are pernittdto continue in operation, as hereinV set for l e 2. The mode of operati `substantially as specitied,`by means of `vi'li-icliu tl1es`igr1al-mes`- senger No. 6, during the backward beat of the lay, is returned to suc ifaposition'that whenever the hair or other material is inserted 4between' the threads ofthe warp where it belongs the gearwhichjcoiitrols the action y' of the several sets of heddles is again putin motiomas set forth.

3. The sgnalanessengerNo. 6, constructed,

applied, and operated in the manner and for i 

